In true Newark spirit they kept going.

Report written by Richard Byrom

2nd XV Report v Ilkeston

Drew 24-24

The 2’s remain unbeaten

Having beaten Ilkeston very convincingly in the first game of the season, Newark knew it would be a much sterner test in the away fixture and so it proved to be.

Ilkeston were unrecognisable not only in the amount of different players playing for the home side but also in the way they played.
They started with 9 or 10 different players from the first match and from minute one they took the game to Newark.
Within 10 minutes the blue and whites found themselves 12-0 down and seemed shell shocked by the way Ilkeston were playing.

Eventually Newark did get themselves into the game and a penalty from Matt Woolridge reduced the arrears.
However poor tackling let Ilkeston take the upper hand again and score a third try – 19-3.

Thankfully Newark’s forwards responded and after several powerful drives from Barnsdale, Garland and Bartch, Max Spurr crashed over for the first try.

Newark were at last in the game and started to dominant, in particular Man of the Match Bryan Loftus made several strong runs. From a scrum a simple 8, 9, 14 combination allowed James Stark to score and make the half time score 19-13.

After the break Newark continued to take control and an early penalty followed by a try by Matt Woolridge meant the away side were in front for the first time 21-19.
The next 25 minute saw the Ilkeston line bombarded by Newark but silly mistakes and handling errors in wet conditions meant no change to the score and with 5 minutes left Ilkeston decided to run the ball from their own line and after some slick handling and weak tackling they went the whole length of the pitch to take the lead 24-21.

So for all the pressure they had, had in the second half Newark were now behind and it looked like Ilkeston were going to hand them their first defeat of the season.
However in true Newark spirit they kept going and with the very last play of the game an Ilkeston hand in the scrum gave Newark a penalty and Woolridge duly knocked over the 3 points to make the final score 24 -24.

In hindsight Newark will feel that over the 80 minutes they were the better side and perhaps should have won but they must learn to take their scoring opportunities.

Once again the team showed a number of changes from last week due to 1st XV call ups, injuries and un-availabilities.

Sterner tests definitely lie ahead with ON’s and local rivals Paviors to play later in the month.

Hopefully the lads can rise to the challenge

RB